1926 with Nock and Potts on the GWR

The GWR and the General Strike

May 2nd Sir Felix Pole GWR General Manager sent the following message to all GWR stations and departments:

‘The National Union of Railwaymen have intimated that railwaymen have been asked to strike without notice tomorrow night. Each Great Western man has to decide his course of action, but I appeal to you all to hesitate before you break your contracts of service with the old company, before you inflict grave damage upon the railway industry and before you arouse ill-feeling in the railway service which will take years to remove. Railway Companies and railwaymen have demonstrated that they can settle their disputes by direct negotiations. The mining industry should be advised to do the same.

Remember that your means of living and your personal interests are involved, and that Great Western men are trusted to be loyal to their conditions of service by the same manner as they expect the company to carry out their obligations and agreements.’

 

History of the Great Western Railway Volume 3 1923-1947

O.S. Nock

(Taken pretty well verbatim from the book but enumerated for ease of reading)

  1. ‘At first there was a fairly general cessation of traffic; indeed despite the undertaking given by the NUR and ASLEF to run food trains, large quantities of fish were held up at Milford Haven without means of rail or road transport, resulting in 2,000 women workers being thrown out of employment, unless the fish were removed. The Great Western took the matter immediately in hand.’
  2. ‘In the London area some stopping trains were worked on the main line on the first day … one from Oxford to Paddington stopping at all stations …The Irish Mail from Fishguard … worked through to London, stopping at principal and many other stations.’
  3. ‘A steady stream of volunteers presented themselves for work on the railway and were allotted duties wherever possible.’
  4. ‘From that start, transport facilities rapidly improved, with the aid of volunteers, and a number of company’s men who remained loyal.’
  5. ‘On the railways as a whole, a good number of steam operated suburban routes on all lines had trains, while the nucleus of main-line facilities was generally built up from the Wednesday onwards with improvement day by day, including many branch line trains.’
  6. ‘Further, while volunteer labour was a very big item, increasing numbers of railwaymen came back, so that quite early in the strike it was estimated that, including those who did not go out, upwards of 100,000 railwaymen were at work. But, as with the volunteers, many of those required training before they could be utilised for operating duties. Volunteer labour was throughout very plentiful, and although there was in many cases a demand greater than the supply for enginemen and signalmen, large numbers of the offers of assistance could not be utilised.’
  7. ‘An interesting feature was that on several lines the students from engineering colleges and other institutions were recruited; their technical knowledge enabled them to adapt themselves to their new duties rapidly and readily.’
  8. ‘At the start of the strike it was decided to keep simplified operating methods and this eventually became the limiting factor in the number of trains that could be run. To extend railway services to any great extent would have involved many of the complications of standard railway working.’
  9. ‘Even so, as the volunteers became more and more familiar with the work, it was found possible to add very considerably to the number of passenger trains run, and gradually to increase to a substantial degree the number of goods trains operated.’
  10. ‘Trains run on the GWR: May 4 194 May 5 250 May 6 300 May 7 479 May 8 500 May 9 520 May 10 908 May 11 1,025 May 12 1,297 May 13 1,385 May 14 1,517.’
  11. ‘One remarkable feature of strike working on the Great Western Railway was its ability, not only to deal with the normal ocean passenger and mail business through Plymouth, but to handle additional calls and landings diverted into that port. Twenty boats called to land 3,000 passengers and seven special trains were run to London. In other cases the two trains regularly run at 9.25 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. to Paddington were used.’
  12. ‘When the strike broke out the dock lines were badly congested with goods wagons; but volunteer labour was eventually able to clear the running lines to enable the boat passengers to entrain alongside the docks waiting rooms as usual for the direct run thence to Paddington. In addition to the inwards traffic three embarkations were arranged including a special call of the P. & O. Company’s Kaiser-i-Hind for which a restaurant car special was run from Paddington.’
  13. ‘In addition to what might be termed the more “glamorous” jobs for volunteers, such as engine driving and firing, and the manning of signal boxes, men and women of every estate buckled to on every kind of humdrum job, such as goods and passenger porters, ticket collectors, van drivers and such like. The amount of sheer physical work done by volunteers in handling food, milk, eggs and urgent parcels was prodigious; while the part played by women, including several titled ladies in tending the large stables at Paddington is a reminder of the extent to which the GWR relied upon horse-drawn lorries for delivery of good in the London area. Elderly railwaymen, long since retired, turned out to help, and a former station-master of Paddington acted as a volunteer guard on the Minehead branch,’
  14. ‘On 11th May, the following circular was issued by Sir Felix Pole: “A stage has now been reached in the strike when it can be said with confidence that railway services are improving each day, and I should like to offer my very hearty congratulations and thanks to all the officers, loyal staff and volunteers who have risen so splendidly to the occasion and who are responsible for this satisfactory state of affairs.” At the same time another was issued by Sir Felix Pole: “The word ‘victimisation’ has often been used in connection with strikes. In the experience of the Great Western Railway it has usually been imported at the end of a strike, the trade unions invariably asking that there should be no victimisation. The present strike not only differs from previous strikes in that it is not associated with any dispute or labour question affecting the company, but because of the fact that victimisations started with the strike, the victim in this case being the Great Western Railway Company. It is indeed true to say that the country as a whole is being victimised by a strike which is the blackest day in the history of Labour in this Country. That thousands of men with no grievance against their employers should have been ‘instructed’ to leave work, and that so many of them should have done so, passes all comprehension. It can only be explained on the ground that there was a deep conspiracy against the State. Thank God such a conspiracy cannot succeed and can only result in the discrediting of its promoters and the disillusionment of those who have been used as pawns in the game.”
  15. ‘The same evening the Prime Minister broadcast to the nation. I well remember listening to that broadcast through the headphones attached to a primitive “crystal set”. Broadcasting was then in its infancy, and many people like myself were probably hearing Stanley Baldwin’s deep resonant voice for the first time. Earlier in the day Mr. Justice Astbury had declared the strike illegal, and the next morning a deputation from the Trade Union Council waited upon the Prime Minister to tell him of their decision to call off the strike, unconditionally. There was, nevertheless, a certain hesitancy on the part of the railwaymen to return to work at once, and on Thursday and Friday … there were long meetings between Union leaders and the railway managers. Eventually a settlement was signed in the afternoon of 14th May …

TERMS OF SETTLEMENT AS BETWEEN THE RAILWAY COMPANIES ON THE ONE HAND AND THE NATIONAL UNION OF RAILWAYMEN, ASSOCIATED SOCIETY OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND FIREMEN, AND THE RAILWAY CLERICS’ ASSOCIATION ON THE OTHER.

  1. Those employees of the Railway Companies who have gone out on strike to be taken back to work as soon as the traffic offers and work can be found for them. The principle to be followed in reinstating to be seniority in each grade at each station, depot or office.
  2. The Trades Unions admit that in calling a strike they committed a wrongful act against the Companies, and agree that the Companies do not by reinstatement surrender their legal right to claim damages arising out of the strike from strikers and others responsible.
  3. The Unions undertake:-
  • not again to instruct their members to strike without previous negotiations with the Companies.
  • to give no support of any kind to their members who take any unauthorised action.
  • not to encourage Supervisory employees in the Special Class to take part in any strike.
  1. The Companies intimated that arising out of the strike it may be necessary to remove certain persons to other positions, but no such person’s salary or wages will be reduced. Each Company will notify the Unions within one week the names of men whom they propose to transfer and will afford each man an opportunity of having an advocate to present his case to the General Manager.
  2. The settlement shall not extend to persons who have been guilty of violence or intimidation

On behalf of the General Managers’ Conference:- FELIX J.C. POLE. H.G. BURGESS H.A. WALKER. R.L. WEDGWOOD R.H. SELBIE On behalf of the Railway Trade Unions:- J.H. Thomas C.T. CRAMP (National Union of Railwaymen) J. BROMLEY (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) A.G. WALKEN (Railway Clerks’ Association)

DATED THIS FOURTEENTH DAY OF MAY, NINETENN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX.

So ended the strike as far as the railways were concerned, and for industry in general. The public heaved a sigh of relief, and affairs quickly reverted to normal except, of course, that a settlement of the coal dispute was as far off as ever.’

  1. ‘Train services, as first restored, were far from normal. On the Great Western many crack expresses were temporarily withdrawn, and long-distance trains made many intermediate stops to avoid running feeder services and using additional coal. Supplies of foreign fuel were obtained, however, and as spring was followed by summer and the holiday season approached the full express service was restored …’
  2. ‘The coal strike continued throughout the summer, with little sign of conciliation on either side. Railways and particularly the Great Western were inconvenienced by the poor quality of the continental coal it was possible to import …’
  3. ‘…the prolongation of the coal strike into the autumn and early winter was, economically as well as socially, a national disaster. The country’s greatest source of indigenous wealth, the very foundation of her industrial supremacy in former years, virtually committed suicide. And South Wales, whose livelihood depended almost entirely upon the one great industry, was utterly ruined. The huge overseas markets to serve which the railways and dock facilities of the Bristol Channel ports had been built up were lost for ever …’

Open Letter to Sir Felix Pole from the Paddington Railwaymen June 1926

Sir,

The chief feature of your career as General Manager has been that which has appealed to the staff of the Great Western Railway for co-operation; urging that such was in the best interests of the men, the public, the Company.

The men for a number of years have believed you, and have been prepared to accept your advice. They have watched your movements, and for a period believed that at last they had an open and fair-minded official to deal with. Even up to the end of April they held this opinion, but even you, must recognise that, while not receiving the education to which they are entitled, they are not void of every atom of intelligence, as may be desired by the shareholding class whom you represent in the railway industry. We like you, recognise the class struggle which is being waged in Society, and again we recognise that if we are to resist the attacks of your class, we also, like you, must be organised as a class: i.e. under a single central leadership.

Having decided on this as a mass body of workers we placed our leadership in the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, and they, acting upon instructions of our Executive Committees decided that the time had arrived when the miners must be protected from the onslaught of your profit-grabbing class. It was here that you gave us a real demonstration of your co-operative spirit. You asked us to ignore our mining comrades; to let them fight a lobe battle, while we, in our turn, should stand by and see them starved into accepting the conditions your class wished to force upon them. Your circulars and pleadings, your vomitations and cries left us cold; we thought first of the “Old Company,” then you, and then our mining comrades, and finally decided our first duty was to our class and not to our enemies.

Therefore, on the morning of May the 4th, you were left in your true position to line up with the Federation of British Industries against the workers.

There is one thing we want to know. If, as you have said so often, you believed in co-operation, with decent conditions for all, why did you not join hands with that section which was attempting to carry this into effect? Why did you not point out to the mineowners that they had no right to make huge profits; live lives of gorgeous luxury; to sneer at all wage earners, and at the same time attempt to force those who had produced that profit still further down the mire of misery and poverty? Why did you not attack the mineowners? Because they belonged to the same greedy dividend-owning class as you, and we realise here that your pleas for co-operation have been so much hypocritical trash. This you have proved since the termination of the General Strike. The agreement arrived at smells of you throughout. So you have “got your own back” – we shall see. The June issue of the Great Western Railway magazine shows the shadow of “Poleism” right through. We advise all railwaymen not to buy tour anti-working class propaganda doping magazine.

Your victimising attitude since the strike shows how you intend to penalise our men. Again we say, “We shall see.” We have seen you at last in your true colours. We see you arraigned as one of the biggest advocates of Capitalism that we have ever witnessed. We see you as an advocate of further suffering for our class. But we in turn stand solid, yes, as solidly as on May 4th, and we say to you now that we know where we are, we shall continue to fight you and your class. Not only the mines, but the railways as well must be wrested from private enterprise.

Even though the General Strike has finished, our thoughts still go out to the miners. We shall support them or any other workers whenever we think fit. But there is one thing we cannot do, and that is in reference to your recent circular letter telling us that unless we speak to the “scabs” we are liable to dismissal. No man who sells his soul and his self respect to his enemies and betrays his comrades is entitled to the companionship of a class-conscious worker and we ignore your circular. It may be advisable from your point of view to post notices and agreements, but we men have yet to see the purpose, except as an insult to us, of posting them deliberately on view to the general public.

We invite you to examine the temperament of every individual who was loyal (sic) to the company, and we challenge you to pick out a real man amongst them. For, given a big enough bribe, they would sell even you to-morrow, just as you, at the bidding of a bigger salary would leave the “dear old Company” to fare for itself. Again, while your wages exceed the combined weekly wage of over fifty of our men you say the wages of the men must be reduced, and yours must be increased. We want to know on whose suggestion, and on what qualifications yours has been increased. One last word, dear Sir Felix, before we leave you to carry on the fight – a General Manager can leave the railway company for three months, and take a trip to the other side of the world, and no substitute need be found for him, but if through ill-health, death or even strikes, one of the cogs in the wheels of the railway industry, the bottom dog, leaves his post, a substitute must be found for him immediately. This then gives us the value of a General Manager, and his usefulness to the Company from which he draws such an enormous salary.

And now, au revoir, we shall meet again on the battlefield in the near future, and we shall remember your tactics in the past.

THE PADDINGTON RAILWAYMEN

 

The GWR and the General Strike The Oakwood Press C.R.Potts

Tuesday May 4

Paddington began to receive reports about attendance on the early shift at signal boxes: 10 signal boxes open in the Plymouth area; 10 signalmen reported for duty in the Worcester area; low attendance at Newport, Swansea, London, Exeter, Birmingham and Gloucester. There was a determination to get milk trains running: Gloucester managed one but not with local staff – the driver came from Bullo Pill and the guard was a Newport man. 50 UCL undergraduates sent to Royal Oak signalling school for 1 and a half hours of signalling instruction with similar amounts of instruction to come daily.

Wednesday May 5

Gloucester reported mid-afternoon that the Cirencester and Tetbury branch lines would be able to offer a service on the next day.

Friday May 7

A driver obtained for the 3.30 p.m. London to Malvern train informed the locomotive superintendent that the level crossings at Ascott, Blockley and Campden were “very uncertain”; he had been told that one of the station masters had refused to open the crossing. The Worcester superintendent was ordered to take according action.

Four trains running from Swindon to Gloucester (with two extended to Cardiff) with one train from Cardiff to Swindon via Gloucester, one from Cardiff to Gloucester, and three from Gloucester to Swindon.

Saturday May 8

Five important lines with no service listed, including Cheltenham-Bristol.

 

Sunday May 9

News came in from the Forest of Dean: the station master at Lydbrook Junction who had been out on strike, reported that he wished to return to his duties but he was not given permission to do so … However, three yard foremen at Gloucester and a Kemble signalman were allowed to return to work but with this GWR proviso: they would have to work where ordered and do any work so bidden.

 

Monday May 10

Six branch lines listed with freight services newly operating, including Fairford.

Four important lines with no service listed, still including Cheltenham-Bristol.

 

 

Tuesday May 11

An announcement from the Road Transport department that a GWR Gloucester-Cheltenham bus service should commence on Wednesday May 12. An extra train running from Cheltenham to Ludgershall on the Midland & South Western Junction Railway at 3p.m and returning at 5.40p.m.

 

Wednesday May 12

Gloucester staff support a resolution that men would return to work en bloc only.

Large consignments of flour carried from Avonmouth, Cardiff and Gloucester.

 

Thursday May 13

No staff reported for duty at Gloucester was the lunchtime message to Paddington. It was thought that no Paddington-South Wales trains (and South Wales to Paddington) could run at night as the LMS could not staff signal boxes at Standish Junction, Haresfield, Naas Crossing and Tramway Crossing.

 

The Permanent Way

Potts: ‘The track grades were almost all out (93.7%), but there were exceptions, particularly in the Gloucester and Shrewsbury divisions. At Cheltenham no less than 90 out of 117 permanent way men remained loyal, it was thought because of the personal influence of the local inspector.’

Police Department

2,202 special constables were enrolled, ‘the largest contingents being: Paddington-Southall (598), Cardiff (257), Birmingham (162), Newport (75) and Bristol (68) … Gloucester only enrolled 15 men.

Reinstatement of Junior Men in Preference to Senior Men

Gloucester is listed in the many examples reported after the strike.

16 station masters were listed who would be transferred to other positions (but without loss of pay). The list includes Churchdown.

‘In 1927 a summary statement was drawn up with action taken with men accused of violence or intimidation who had not been allowed to resume until their appeals had been heard by the General Manager (or assistant) …’

The list includes Fireman Gloucester Intim. and violence towards labourer Resumed 28.6.26  Driver    Gloucester Impeding distribution of food Resumed 15.8.26

 

STATEMENT SHEWING NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS ENROLLED

AT CENTRES OTHER THAN PADDINGTON

Eleven Divisions are listed:

BRISTOL, EXETER, PLYMOUTH, GLOUCESTER, NEWPORT, CARDIFF,

SWANSEA, WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM, CHESTER, OSWESTRY

The average number of volunteers enrolled per Division was about 1,000. Gloucester came in at eighth on the list with 425 enrolled. 112 were utilised: only 25 were Company’s Servants; 71 came From Outside Service and 16 were Retired Company’s Servants. Gloucester came in ninth on number not utilised with 313, of which 241 came From Outside Service; only 39 were Company’s Servants and 33 were Retired Company’s Servants.

 

 

STATEMENT SHEWING THE PERCENTAGE OF STAFF ON STRIKE DAILY

Clerical and Technical Staff Supervisory Staff: May 5 27.2% May 6 26.7% May 7 26.4% May 8 26.4% May 9 26.4% May 10 26.0% May 11 25.7% May 12 25.4% May 13 24.7% May 14 24.6%

Supervisory Staff, including Station Masters and Agents: May 5 21.0% May 6 20.5% May 7 20.4% May 8 20.6% May 9 20.6% May 10 20.4% May 11 20.5% May 12 20.4% May 13 19.9% May 14 19.6%

Engine Drivers: May 5 98.7% May 6 98.6% May 7 98.6% May 8 98.5% May 9 98.5% May 10 98.4% May 11 98.4% May 12 98.3% May 13 97.5% May 14 97.6%

Firemen: May 5 99.5% May 6 99.6% May 7 99.5% May 8 99.5% May 9 99.5% May 10 99.3% May 11 99.1% May 12 99.1% May 13 98.5% May 14 98.5%

Guards: May 5 96.6% May 6 98.5% May 7 96.4% May 8 96.2% May 9 96.2% May 10 96.3% May 11 95.9% May 12 95.6% May 13 94.5% May 14 94.2%

Signalmen: May 5 92.1% May 6 92.3% May 7 90.7% May 8 90.3% May 9 90.4% May 10 89.5% May 11 88.8% May 12 87.9% May 13 84.3% May 14 83.2%

Shunters: May 5 97.6% May 6 95.5% May 7 97.0% May 8 97.1% May 9 97.3% May 10 97.4% May 11 97.3% May 12 97.0% May 13 96.3% May 14 95.9%